


Fallen

by KieraElieson



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Blood and Injury, Fantasy Racism, Fantasy World, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Naga!Janus, Winged!Logan, Winged!Patton, spider-person!Virgil
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-22
Updated: 2020-11-22
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:41:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,462
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27670826
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KieraElieson/pseuds/KieraElieson
Summary: Patton wakes up on the ground, in a strange place, and with strange injuries he doesn’t remember getting.He’d like to just find his way home, toward safety and medicine, but first he finds a lost child, and he can’t just leave him there.
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Deceit | Janus Sanders & Morality | Patton Sanders, Logic | Logan Sanders & Morality | Patton Sanders
Comments: 15
Kudos: 110





	Fallen

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to Enby-Phoenix/PaigePenn for proofreading this fic! It’s loads better because of your help! :D

Patton groaned, slowly waking up. He felt like he’d smacked face first into a cliff. He was rapidly wishing he hadn’t woken, as he became more and more aware of pain. 

He pushed himself up onto his elbows, trying to figure out where he was. He was on the ground, and it seemed that he was on the lower ground. Where snake and spider people lived. He shuddered slightly, which shook his body and aggravated all the hurting places, making him grimace. His face, chest, stomach, and upper thighs hurt most, probably from the impact, as though before he hit, he’d been free falling, and tried to level himself out, but somehow didn’t get enough air under his wings to stop himself from going splat anyway. 

“Are you an angel?” a soft, awed voice asked. 

Patton’s head jerked to the side and it jerked several things that wanted very much to be still. He stifled another groan. Through watering eyes, he saw a child, and a tail where there ought to be legs. He blinked, looking at the child’s face, and tried to not pay attention to his very snakeish lower half. 

“Ummm… well, not quite,” Patton said, pushing himself up onto his hands and knees and trying to gauge whether or not he’d be able to stand. 

“Did you fall out of the ssky?” The boy asked, his tone still incredibly awed. 

Patton grimaced. “I believe so. I actually… I don’t remember, right now. I must’ve hit my head. I’m surprised I’m not bleeding.”

“You did, but it’ss dry now,” the boy said, staring at Patton with wide eyes. 

Patton then saw the dried blood in the grass below him. How long had he been knocked out? He felt around his head and face, finding more dried blood. It seemed to come from a scrape on his forehead, and his nose, which hurt awfully the instant he touched it. 

He managed to maneuver himself up enough to sit. And then he realized, very unpleasantly, that where there were baby snakes there might well be adult snakes. 

“Hey, where are your parents, kiddo?”

The little boy shrugged. “I’m running away.”

And suddenly the image of angry snake parents thinking he’d tried to kidnap their son flashed through Patton’s mind. But it was followed by an equally unpleasant image of the little boy lost and starving, unable to find his way back. 

Patton felt the inner sigh like when he had to put back a third cookie. Except this one felt quite a bit stronger. And more unpleasant. But he was determined now. He was helping this boy and then he was going to fly back up and find someone to make sure he’d be ok before going to bed until all the pain was gone. 

“Why?” Patton asked, being sure not to sound accusing, only curious. 

The boy shrugged. “It sseemed like the right thing to do.”

And that stumped Patton, leaving him with only the same question. “Why?”

The boy shrugged again, though somehow it seemed more thoughtful. “If I ran away, I could take care of mysself, and Dad will be proud of me for doing sso well. And! I ssaw you! And even Dad never saw an angel up close!”

Patton nodded slowly. It seemed to be a culture thing, if he had to guess. “And your Dad won’t be worried about you?”

The boy frowned, looking down. But his head popped back up quickly. “Not when I come back and tell him how good I did!”

Patton nodded. “So your dad’s worried about you right now.”

The boy wilted slightly. “Probably.”

Patton forced himself to his feet, every muscle protesting the movement. Nearly everything in his body either ached or stung painfully. He still tried not to grimace too much, not wanting to worry the boy. 

“Why don’t we go back to him then, and you can tell him your idea, and then you can run away and be so very good at taking care of yourself, and he won’t be worried?” Patton suggested, holding out his hand. 

The boy almost reached out, but then stopped. “I can’t go placess with sstrangers. What’ss your name?”

“That’s a very good rule. My name is Patton.”

“I’m Janusss,” the boy said, smiling, and dragging the s out even more than he usually did. “And my Dad’s name is Virgil. What’s your dad’s name?”

“His name was Thomas.”

“Thomass is a nice name,” Janus said. “But not very sstrong. Now I can go with you!”

Patton was slightly confused by this judgment on his Dad’s name’s strength, but Janus was holding his hand out, and now he could get him back home, and then he’d find his own way home. 

A sudden breeze made him shiver, and his wings fluffed up, which made him freeze. They felt strange… wrong… He pulled them in front of him. All the long feathers had been clipped, right up as short as they could be without hitting nerves. He wouldn’t be flying for months. Patton felt trapped, just staring at his ruined wings, and he had to fight to hold back tears. 

“What’sss wrong?” Janus asked, his little hiss getting longer with his worried tone.

“N-nothing,” Patton said, his voice choking up. 

“Did sssomeone hurt your wings?” Janus asked. “I would fight them with you!”

Patton offered a slight smile, which was the best he could give. “Thank you, but I don’t know who it was, and we’re getting you home first, ok?”

Janus nodded. “And then my dad will fight too. He likess to help people that got hurt.”

“Thanks, Janus.” Patton said, tucking his wings up so he couldn’t see them and could push the whole situation out of his mind. “That’s a really sweet offer.”

He took a deep breath, and looked around. “Which way did you come from?”

Janus pointed off across the plain and Patton hoped he wasn’t pointing into the woods, just along them. They both started walking in that direction. Patton felt very sore, but he hoped that this would sort of ‘walk it off’, and anyway, he couldn’t just leave a little kid lost.

But then the sun started setting, and Janus said he had come from the woods. They’d have to go inside there in the mostly-dark, and Patton was feeling more and more uncomfortable. Even though he knew he wouldn’t be flying anytime soon, he didn’t like going into places where he wouldn’t be able to maneuver easily, and where things that he couldn’t see could see him. He much preferred the openness of the plain.

“It’sss ssafe,” Janus promised. “My housse is in there.”

“Alright then,” Patton said reluctantly.

They’d only walked in for a few minutes when Patton got a terrible crawling feeling, like something watching them. And like the something was angry. He shivered, trying not to look too obviously scared. He didn’t want to worry Janus. 

And then Janus shivered, looking around nervously. “Oh no…”

And that sent a zing of terror down Patton’s spine. “Oh no, what?”

Then there was a hiss, and Patton turned to see eyes staring at him, practically glowing with anger. And far too many legs. 

He moved to stand in front of Janus, and the something leapt at him. As much as he wanted to look capable and protective for Janus, he couldn’t stop the scream that tore from his throat as he flailed and grabbed the spider-person around the middle, holding tight and hoping that, whatever might happen to him, Janus would be able to run away. They flailed back and forth, spider legs hitting his back and wings. Another scream built up in his throat, but he distantly realized that it didn’t really hurt much, though it made his skin crawl and his nerves buzz, jolting him into near-panic. But he kept holding tight, trying to lever his weight to pull the spider person to the ground beneath him.

“Sssstop!” Janus screamed. “Sssstop fighting!”

And then something hit Patton just over the ear, and he suddenly felt very dizzy, and weak, and he slumped to the ground. Everything hurt all over again, and his own heartbeat sounded so very loud. 

But Janus was still there. Janus could be in trouble. 

Patton felt like everything was sand. Very very loud sand. Shifting and pouring everywhere with a loud rasping sound. He could barely see or hear anything else. He pushed himself up a little, trying to focus through it all and see if he could see Janus. Maybe he’d run off. Hopefully he was safe. 

He saw the spider-person right next to Janus, but… he seemed to be fussing over him. Not fighting, or kidnapping. That was enough to relieve his mind, and Patton dropped, his awareness fading away. 

  * •^*^••



Patton woke up, blinking slowly. He felt all warm and a bit tingly. His wings were awkwardly half-stretched out on either side of him, and he was laying on his back, in a bed in a strange house, with a small warm fire off to the side. He heard a door open, and tried to look, but couldn’t quite see. 

“Hey,” a deep voice said, sounding like it was trying to be really careful. “Janus sort of brought you home. Sorry for freaking out and attacking you. He explained you were just trying to help, and we tried to patch you up.”

“Um... “ Patton was more confused than scared at this point. “Thank you.”

And then he remembered exactly who had ‘freaked out and attacked him’ and shivered involuntarily. 

“Are you cold? I tried to make it warm, but I really didn’t know how warm your kind likes it to be.”

Patton guessed, as the spider-person passed him to stir up the fire, that he was probably Virgil. Perhaps Janus was adopted, or, based on what he’d said before, perhaps rescued. He tried to keep that in the forefront of his mind. Virgil was someone that liked to help people that were hurt. That was more important than his appearance, no matter how creepy. 

But Patton couldn’t help seeing the spider legs jutting out of his back, twitching and moving, and shuddered again. 

Virgil turned and looked straight at him, and Patton tried hard to keep his face even, but he had too many eyes. It wasn’t right to have extra little eyes right under your eyes. 

But worst of all, he could see in Virgil’s face that he was not successful in his attempts to remain stone faced. Patton pulled the blanket up over his head. 

“I’m so sorry. Really, I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be rude, and I’m so glad you’re nice and you’re taking care of me, and that just makes it worse and I’m sorry!”

There was a slight rustle and a puff of air. “I knew already that your kind doesn’t like my kind, that's why you all stay high up there.”

Patton shook his head under the blanket. “No, I mean yes, I mean— It’s kind of true most of us don’t like spider people or snake people, but that’s not why, I promise! I just… I’m just scared of spiders. And I know it’s not something you can help so I’m sorry!”

There was a bit of a pause, and then Virgil gave a slight chuckle. “I believe you. And by the looks of those wings you’ll be here for a bit. I’ll see what I can do.”

“You… will?” Patton asked quietly, too quietly for Virgil to hear as he walked off, it seemed. He was astounded that Virgil wasn’t offended. And even more astounded that apparently Virgil was offering to let him stay as a guest until his feathers grew back. But most of all, he was both amazed and confused that Virgil was going to try something to make himself less scary. What would he even do?

“How’s this?” Virgil’s voice asked. “I’m practically human.”

Patton peeked tentatively out from under his blanket. Virgil was wearing a backpack, and it looked like all the legs had been tucked up inside somehow. And under his eyes was smeared dark soot. He could barely see the other eyes. 

“If you’re sure it doesn’t make you uncomfortable,” Patton said. “It’s your house anyway, if you didn’t want to—“

“No, you’re a guest. I’d like you to be comfortable first. And this is fine.”

“Thank you,” Patton said earnestly. 

Virgil grinned, and it was actually a really nice grin, and Patton thought that if he could ever manage to forget about the spider parts, he’d really like Virgil. 

  * •^*^••



Whatever medicine Virgil had given him fixed Patton up so well he was out of bed two days later, only achey and a bit bruised. He was also starting to acknowledge that his wings were really clipped. There wasn’t much to distract him from seeing them, and he was feeling more and more dully upset as it properly sank in that he wouldn’t be flying for a very long time.

He went outside, where it was a bit chilly of a day, and flapped his wings hard, trying to keep up the muscles so he wouldn’t have to wait even longer once the feathers grew back. But it hurt a bit to not even feel light on his feet, much less rising an inch or two. 

“Do you know Dad ssaid I wasn’t allowed to run away until sspring?” Janus asked, rather grumpily. 

Patton straightened, suddenly determined. “We need something to do. Something fun.”

“Like what?” Janus asked. 

Patton looked all around the little cottage, trying to consider only things he could reach from the ground. 

“What if we made a courtyard? The trees are close enough it wouldn’t be too hard.”

Janus cocked his head to the side. “What’ss that?”

“It’s like…” Patton gestured with his arms. “It’s like a new wall all around, so it’s like another massive room for your house, but with no roof.”

Janus frowned slightly in confusion. 

“Here, I’ll show you.” Patton knelt near the doorstep, where the ground was clear and dusty, and drew it out with a stick. “So your house would be here, and we build a new wall like this!”

“Wouldn’t that be really hard?” Janus asked. 

“Maybe a little, but we can do it! Come on, I’ll start, and you can help me! We have to find some wood that’s at least as long as you are, and pretty stiff still.”

Janus nodded and slipped away quickly into the forest. 

Soon he came back, and by then Patton had found a suitable stick as well, and showed Janus how to use another stick to pound it down into the ground. 

Once they explained what they were doing, Virgil helped some too, and very much approved of the idea, saying it would be a good thing to keep small creatures out from seeking their house’s heat in the winter. 

It took them a week to pound in enough sticks between the trees, and then he showed Janus which flexible branches and saplings to get and weave back and forth between the upright sticks. 

But with Virgil helping, there were slips. There were slips anyway, in the mornings or evenings when Patton would see Virgil before he’d covered himself up or after he’d taken it all off. And he was seeing too that being cooped up in that backpack made Virgil’s legs sore, and sometimes he got soot in one of his little eyes, and couldn’t even rub it because there was soot all around, and had to go and wash it all very carefully. 

And so eventually, Virgil had a whole day where he was helping them, and it finally built up. Patton had been getting a bit, well, worried wasn’t quite it, and neither was guilty, but maybe it was something of both. And he couldn’t just leave it be any longer.

“Virgil?”

“Yeah?” Virgil asked, bending the sapling he was weaving into the wall, curving it around the next stick and stomping on it to shove it down flush with the one below it. 

“Um... I think… if you want to, I don’t think I would mind if you didn’t cover up your legs or your eyes.”

Virgil looked at him intently, probably trying to see whether he was sincere or not. Then he shrugged. “I’ll take this backpack off, but I actually really like the look of the eyeshadow.”

Patton had never thought of it as eyeshadow. It was kind of like backwards eyeshadow though, since you would normally put it above your eyes, not below. But when Virgil struggled out of the backpack, he was very pleased with himself that the spike of fear he had felt when he first saw him didn’t come back. 

They finished the courtyard just as it was really getting cold, and all attention was turned towards gathering firewood and food before it snowed. 

Patton was now able to feel light on his feet when he practiced with his wings, and the new pinfeathers that had come in gradually had grown a whole handbreadth. 

He’d hoped he could fly, even just a little, and could pounce on small critters, but that wasn’t really an option. Virgil though, was extremely good at catching animals, though he didn’t do it when Patton could see. Patton had worried thoughts of a massive spiderweb, somewhere deep in the woods, but he never spoke them aloud, just focused his energy on gathering edible plants and firewood. 

Travelers and traders stopped by sometimes, and Patton had to hide in Janus’s bedroom. Most snake-people and spider-people seemed to keep to themselves, and while they made an exception for Virgil and Janus, it seemed pretty clear from the little conversation he overheard that they really didn’t like his people. There was some kind of idea that there was some kind of treasure at the top of the cliff, and that his people were hoarding it. Patton didn’t really like that, but he agreed to stay hidden for now, and when his wings were all better and he was able to fly out of reach in case he needed to, then Virgil would try introducing him to his acquaintances and distant neighbors.

And then it snowed. Deep and quiet, all overnight, and the forest seemed transformed into silence. Everything had bedded down and been buried under the whiteness. 

They stayed inside for a long day, and then forced the door open the next day. They shoved all the snow in the courtyard against the house, burying it in a thick layer of insulation, and then they went inside. Both Virgil and Janus, though especially Janus, seemed ready to just sleep the winter away. Patton needed more to do, and took on himself almost all the chores, needing something to keep busy with. 

“So you really can’t remember who did that to your wings?” Virgil asked, as Patton washed up from dinner. “Even now?”

“Nope. And I’m not sure I want to. If I knew, I’d be all angry at them, and stuck where I couldn’t do anything about it.”

“But it doesn’t bother you that you have missing memories?”

Patton chuckled. “I did hit my head pretty hard.”

“When you go back though, you won’t know who to stay away from.”

Patton shrugged. “I’m… I'm not sure I want to go back. I won’t impose on you two once spring comes, but… my dad died a few years ago, and I suppose I must’ve had a mother at some point in time, but I don’t remember her. I have a friend, but he can visit me just as easily. I think I might go and stay with him a bit and then just move down here somewhere.”

Virgil nodded slowly. “Well… you know, with this courtyard you made… it’s big enough for two houses, wouldn’t you say?”

“You… wouldn’t mind me that close?”

Virgil shrugged with a little grin. “I mean, you’re pretty nice to have as a houseguest. Neighbors doesn’t sound bad at all.”

Patton smiled. “Thank you. That sounds really nice.”

“If you left for real I would chassse you and bring you back!” Janus said fiercely.

Patton ruffled his hair up with a rather soapy hand, which made Janus splutter and shove at his arm. Both Patton and Virgil chuckled at Janus’s glare as he swiped at his hair. 

  * •^*^••



There was still a bit of snow on the ground, but Patton was flying again. He wasn’t sure whether or not he was up to scaling the massive cliff, but he was restless, and wanted to be in the air. More air than there was below the trees. When he came back and built a house, it would have to include a platform up in the top of the trees so he could go flying. 

“Here’s some more of the sweet potatoes,” Virgil said, putting the container into Patton’s backpack. The poor man seemed so frazzled, he’d even forgotten to put on his eyeshadow. And he wasn’t even the one going to go flying. 

“I’ll be fine,” Patton promised. “And I can’t carry too much, or I won’t be able to fly.”

“Oh! That’s right!” Patton had to stop him before Virgil unpacked his entire bag. 

“I’ll make it back safely. And I’ll be gone no longer than a week.”

Virgil nodded, a grumpy frown on his face. Janus wasn’t any better, looking like he was trying to cover up his teary eyes with the most intense scowl Patton had seen on his face yet. 

“Really, I’ll be fine,” Patton promised, hugging each of them. 

He went back to the bottom of the cliff, staring at it, and trying to figure out if there were any ledges big enough to rest on if he got too tired. 

And then he heard a faint sound, looked up, and immediately took off, flying up and slamming into the screaming falling person, grabbing them in a hug and trying desperately to fall slowly. They still landed in an abrupt heap on the ground, but he didn’t think he was hurt, and hopefully the other person—

“Logan?”

“Patton??”

Patton hugged Logan tight. “But what— how are you— your wings! What happened??”

Logan hugged him back just as tight, which was incredibly rare. “I thought you had died!” he said in an almost yell, and then his voice got really quiet. “I thought I was going to die.”

“What happened?” Patton asked again. 

“I… I insisted that despite the dangers, we ought to be allowed to come down to the lower land. And I was, I was hoping to find you. But they took some kind of offense to that, for-- I can’t even see the reason! And after a truly absurd mockery of a trial, I was sentenced to remain down here for a month. But-- I would hardly have resisted… but they-- after all that, they clipped my wings secretly from the people and—!” Logan choked up, and Patton hugged him. 

“Is this what happened to you too?” Logan asked, running a hand over the edge of Patton’s not-quite-fully grown back wing. 

Patton shrugged. “I hit my head really hard, and I can’t remember. It sounds like something I would’ve said too though. And if they did it to you, they would’ve done it to me.”

“How did you survive?” Logan asked. “A fall like that, and especially if you hit your head. And how did you manage the winter?”

“I met someone called Janus, and his dad Virgil, and they let me stay with them—“

“There’s more of us down here?”

“No, they’re… well, Janus is a snake-person and Virgil is a spider-person.”

Logan looked at him as if he’d lost his mind and offered him a treasure at the same time. “And they really let you stay? But you’re afraid of spiders.”

Patton nodded. “Let’s go meet them, I’ll bet they’ll be really happy I’m coming back so soon.”

Logan barraged him with questions the whole way back, until Patton was sure Virgil and Janus would hardly be able to tell Logan anything he didn’t know already. 

When they arrived, Patton didn’t think to knock, and just opened the door, and was surprised to see Virgil and Janus sitting at the table, staring into half-ful soup bowls mournfully, and Janus was even all teary. 

“What’s wrong?” Patton asked.

Both heads popped up immediately, and Patton soon had his arms full of happy snake-boy. 

“Wait, why are you back already?” Virgil asked.

“Oh, yeah!” Patton turned so Logan could be seen. “This is my friend I was going to visit. His name is Logan. Pretty much the same thing happened to him as what happened to me, except I managed to catch him right at the end.”

“Ah. It’s nice to meet you, Logan. You’re welcome to stay with us.”

“Logan, this is Virgil, and Janus,” Patton said, gesturing to each of them.

“It’s nice to meet you,” Logan said. “I appreciate your hospitality.”

“Let’sss make a ssspecial dinner!” Janus suggested.

“You really don’t have to-” Logan started, but both Virgil and Patton were already agreeing with Janus.

They made dinner, and by the time it was served Logan felt comfortable enough to ask his first question, and from there it was a whole stream of conversation that lasted long into the night.

By the end of the week it was unanimously agreed that if he was willing to stay, Logan must absolutely live with Patton or build himself a third house. 

  * •^*^••



Slowly, Patton and Logan were introduced to more and more people, and Logan in particular loved to travel, answering and asking as many questions as possible, and meeting new and strange people. He started writing books, and collecting all the books he could, trading his own for some. And Patton was very pleased to collect as many or more friends as Logan collected books.

It was several years later that Patton took Janus up on his promise to fight the people that had hurt him, though not in the way Janus had first intended. Patton and Logan flew Virgil and Janus up to the top of the cliff, and they all answered all the questions the people had about what life in the lower land was like, and tried to convince them that there should be cooperation between their peoples. 

It wouldn’t happen as easily as all that, but it did plant seeds. As years passed, it was possible to see a winged person somewhere on the ground of the lower land, rather than only flying above it.

And Patton was extremely pleased to celebrate his fortieth birthday with a very large and diverse group of good friends. 

  
  



End file.
